I recently wrote Gus Gustafson, a first class guide in the North Carolina area. I thought I'd post his reply for all to see. Gus specializes in hunting Stripers in the Lake Norman, NC area. He can be reached at 704-896-1704. Above is a photo of his rig...notice the numerous poles. "Soundings" November 2002 also has a good write up on him.

John, Thanks, for writing. I trust you enjoyed the Soundings article.

I spent my youth fishing on the Great South Bay! My Dad financed a 26-foot bay boat ( Clam Boat ) for me. At the time, I was a sophomore at Brentwood High School. I made the boat payments from the money I earned fishing, digging clams, dredging scallops and mating on charter boats. I worked the Great South Bay after school, on weekends, holidays and every day during the summer. The Bayshore docks had a small fleet of six-pack charter boats. Winter flounder, fluke, weakfish, bluefish and black sea bass were the targeted fish. We primarily fished the bay's channels and grass flats between Islip, Fire Island and Bayshore. It was rare that we ever ventured near Fire Island Inlet. I mated on each of the charter boats at various times. I forgot a lot of their names, but I fished with Capt.Toby Watts, Capt. John Watts and Capt."Chicken John" to name a few. Toby was my favorite Captain. He taught me ! a lot about fishing and how to safely run a boat. I thought so much of him that I named my son Toby, in his honor. "Chicken John" was a legend in his own time. The other Captains agreed. He was locally famous for catching more and bigger weakfish than anyone. He had pictures of weakfish that were caught on his boat as far back as the early 1900's. These fish were big. They have become even larger with time. I remember seeing picture after picture of parties showing dozens of weakfish that had been caught. Many of the weakfish were ten, twelve, and fifteen pounds. By the time I started mating, the fish were a lot smaller. In the late fifties, a ten pounder would draw a crowd at any dock. The most popular method of fishing was to use two anchors to bridle the boat so it wouldn't swing in the wind and current. If we fished for weakfish, we chummed with live shrimp. When we fished for bluefish, we ladled out watered down, ground up bunker that formed a chum slick.. Fluke, sea robins and black sea bass were attracted to the boat by lowering a chum pot filled with frozen moss bunker to the bottom. Live grass shrimp, killies, squid, blood worms, sand worms and butter fish were the baits of choice. There were days in the summer when I'd drift the shallow grass flats while casting a Striper Swiper for bluefish. I threw the lure as far as I could, then popped it across the surface with a fast retrieve.

When conditions were right, I made several trips to the Islip Fish Market each day. My fish box wasn't large enough to hold all of the bluefish I caught! The only time I caught striped bass would be in the late spring or early summer. The fish would be found spawning in the back-end of Cedar Creek, East of Islip. The spawn lasted for only a short time. The stripers were caught mostly on live bait. Back then, spinning reels were not commonly used.. The Mitchell 300 was just being introduced into the United States. Most bay fishing was accomplished by using small Penn and Pflueger reels. As you know, they didn't cast very well. I have fished shallow water flats on the east coast from New York to Florida and from Flamingo to Louisiana on the Gulf. I have not actually fished the flats for stripers, but neither have I caught any by accident. On Lake Norman, NC. we catch stripers in very shallow water during the spring, fall and winter. Spring stripers are spawning, the fall fish are feeding on shad and the winter stripers are either sunning or feeding. We cast with bucktails, roadrunners, spoons or top water baits. I catch a lot of stripers slow trolling with the electric motor. Shad, herring or rainbow trout are either free lined or pulled behind planer boards. I have caught stripers regularly using this method in water less than two feet deep..

(Re: my question about use of a trolling motor). "A trolling motor is great for flats fishing. If you decide to get one, buy a saltwater version. Motor Guide and Minn Kota make excellent motors. I did a lot of flats fishing when I lived in Florida. As I got older, I became more and more dependent on my trolling motor. A good trolling motor is very effective when fishing for bonefish, tarpon and redfish. The stripers on Lake Norman average five pounds. We use eight to fourteen pound test line on light to medium-light action seven foot rods. The fish are smaller than in most lakes, but are fun to catch on light tackle. I know you wanted to learn more about shallow water striper fishing. I am sorry, that I couldn't help. Please publish this writing on your web site if you found it interesting. Check out my web site at: www.lakenormanstriperfishing.com . It has a weekly column, a Lake Norman striper fishing report, how-to fishing information and Tips from Gus. I am looking forward to meeting and fishing with you. Keep in touch. Gus 704 896 1704 P.S. I checked out your web site. It is great!